How to Get Started Using Your Blog
Blogging Basics
When you first get your business blog it can be a little intimidating on where to start. Below are some basic tips that you can either have open in a separate screen in your browser or print out to have in front of you as you blog for the first couple of times.
1) Login. You can't create a blog entry until you login.
Note: If your password is still "password", which is the default, you will need to change it after you login for the first time. There is a link in the top part of the right hand menu column to do that.
2) Create Categories. In a blog you can break your articles up into different categories. To see how this is used, look at this demo blog or our our main SonicSpider Blog as an example. We recommend that you start by adding a few categories right away to keep your blog organized.
In the right hand menu column go to CONTENT and find the link "New Category". Click the link. On the New Category page you will be asked to type in a Name, ID, and Tag for each Category. I recommend that you make all three of these the same thing, and to use Camel Caps.
Note: Camel Caps is when you write several words together without a space but capitalize the first letter of each word. For example:
SonicSpider
SonicBusinessBlog
SonicWebWidgets
The categories you have created will show up in a table above the area where you are inputting the new category information.
3) Create a new blog entry. In the right hand menu column, under the word CONTENT, the first link is "New blog entry". Click on that link to begin.
4) Working Blog Draft. When you create a new blog entry for the first time you will come to the edit page. At the top is the Preview section which will be empty at first. Below that is a place to put the title of your article and subtitle. A subtitle is optional.
Below that is the Excerpt section. This text will show up as a summary or "lead in" to your blog entry.
Tip: Wait until the end to do the excerpt. Then just cut and paste the first sentence or two from your main article to use as the excerpt. Always make sure the excerpt will encourage readers to click on the title to read the whole article.
The Body text area is just below the excerpt. This is where you will either type your article in or cut and paste it from a word processor. Above the body and excerpt areas there are tools you can use to style and format your text, as well as add links. These tools are similar to most word processors and we will not get into how each one works at this time.
Under the body text area, there are several additional options you can add to your blog entry. Below is just a simple explanation of some of the ones that you may use most often.
Original Permalink. The field below the body text box is for an original permalink. A permalink can be used to "feed" in a blog entry from another blog. This a more advanced technique and we will cover it in another article.
Comments. You can decide if you want people to comment on your article or not.
Category. Check off the box or boxes of the categories you want this article to show up in. You can have one article in several categories. If you created categories ahead of time, you will see those categories show up here.
Attachment. You can attach a file to your blog entry for your readers to download if you wish.
5) Save your article. After you are done writing your article you can save it. You can also save it at any point in the process of writing your article, and come back later to finish it.
Note: Once it is SAVED, your article is still not PUBLISHED. All unpublished articles have the watermark of the word "Draft" behind the title.
6) Publishing your article. Once you are ready to publish your article and have people come and read it, you simply click on the "Publish" button on the upper right hand corner of the article preview. This will take you to the publishing screen.
When you publish a blog entry you have several options. You can publish it "now", or you can publish it in the past. You cannot publish anything in the future!
After you have published your article, you have just completed your first session as a blogger! You can still go back and edit your article or unpublish it at any time.
1) Login. You can't create a blog entry until you login.
Note: If your password is still "password", which is the default, you will need to change it after you login for the first time. There is a link in the top part of the right hand menu column to do that.
2) Create Categories. In a blog you can break your articles up into different categories. To see how this is used, look at this demo blog or our our main SonicSpider Blog as an example. We recommend that you start by adding a few categories right away to keep your blog organized.
In the right hand menu column go to CONTENT and find the link "New Category". Click the link. On the New Category page you will be asked to type in a Name, ID, and Tag for each Category. I recommend that you make all three of these the same thing, and to use Camel Caps.
Note: Camel Caps is when you write several words together without a space but capitalize the first letter of each word. For example:
SonicSpider
SonicBusinessBlog
SonicWebWidgets
The categories you have created will show up in a table above the area where you are inputting the new category information.
3) Create a new blog entry. In the right hand menu column, under the word CONTENT, the first link is "New blog entry". Click on that link to begin.
4) Working Blog Draft. When you create a new blog entry for the first time you will come to the edit page. At the top is the Preview section which will be empty at first. Below that is a place to put the title of your article and subtitle. A subtitle is optional.
Below that is the Excerpt section. This text will show up as a summary or "lead in" to your blog entry.
Tip: Wait until the end to do the excerpt. Then just cut and paste the first sentence or two from your main article to use as the excerpt. Always make sure the excerpt will encourage readers to click on the title to read the whole article.
The Body text area is just below the excerpt. This is where you will either type your article in or cut and paste it from a word processor. Above the body and excerpt areas there are tools you can use to style and format your text, as well as add links. These tools are similar to most word processors and we will not get into how each one works at this time.
Under the body text area, there are several additional options you can add to your blog entry. Below is just a simple explanation of some of the ones that you may use most often.
Original Permalink. The field below the body text box is for an original permalink. A permalink can be used to "feed" in a blog entry from another blog. This a more advanced technique and we will cover it in another article.
Comments. You can decide if you want people to comment on your article or not.
Category. Check off the box or boxes of the categories you want this article to show up in. You can have one article in several categories. If you created categories ahead of time, you will see those categories show up here.
Attachment. You can attach a file to your blog entry for your readers to download if you wish.
5) Save your article. After you are done writing your article you can save it. You can also save it at any point in the process of writing your article, and come back later to finish it.
Note: Once it is SAVED, your article is still not PUBLISHED. All unpublished articles have the watermark of the word "Draft" behind the title.
6) Publishing your article. Once you are ready to publish your article and have people come and read it, you simply click on the "Publish" button on the upper right hand corner of the article preview. This will take you to the publishing screen.
When you publish a blog entry you have several options. You can publish it "now", or you can publish it in the past. You cannot publish anything in the future!
After you have published your article, you have just completed your first session as a blogger! You can still go back and edit your article or unpublish it at any time.